What You Should Know to Apply for the LPI Board

Dear potential candidate for the LPI Board of Directors,

First of all, thank you for even considering running for the Board of Directors of the Linux Professional Institute (LPI).

We are approaching the June 22nd, 2024 LPI Annual General Meeting (AGM) and the election of up to eight new Board members to what could be a 13 member Board.

The Bylaws of LPI allow a slate of eight to fifteen candidates to apply and be vetted by a non-partisan Nominating Committee approved by the existing board, and a slate of member candidates to be vetted by approval of five supporting members.

These two slates, the “NomCom” slate and the “member” slate, will have five seats and three seats respectively, chosen by the member vote (using a ranked vote system) ending at the AGM.

These eight Board members, along with the existing five Board members, will constitute the Board of Directors whose job is to steer the organization legally and fiscally while still meeting the goals stated in the Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws, and Policies.

These goals are, loosely, to promote the growth of Open Source professionalism around the world.

To meet these goals we are looking for a diverse (geographically, gender, and background) set of candidates who ideally have the experience of being on a Board of Directors.   They should also have the drive and passion of Free and Open Source Software while having the time necessary to attend board meetings, help develop Bylaws, New Policies, and participate in committees as necessary.

Directors also can not have direct Conflicts of Interest (CoI).   It creates difficulties if someone comes onto the Board of LPI who is also on the Board of another certification organization.   Likewise someone who runs a company and is a large training partner of LPI should not be on the board voting for budgeting of training funds.   Having these people as advisors or subject matter experts is fine, but not as Board members.   Staff members of LPI are also not allowed.   For full qualifications see the policies for Board members on the LPI web site.

For the NomCom slate there are no hard and fast rules for the candidates.  It is desirable, but not necessary, that they be Open Source advocates.   They do not have to have experience in Open Source software or hardware.  They can, but do not have to be, LPI members.

For the member slate the applicants have to be LPI members.

Both sets of applicants have to fully fill out the online application form.

After the cutoff date the applicants intending on applying through the NomCom procedure will have their information sent to the Nominating Committee, and that committee will evaluate if the applicants have the desired qualifications for the position.   The NomCom will then create the NomCom slate for the election.

Once five members have approved any of the applicants that applicant will be added to the slate for the election.

When both slates are ready the elections will be open and members will be able to vote, with the election period ending at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) on June 22nd.

Once again, thank you for considering a position on the LPI Board of Directors.

Sincerely,
Jon A. Hall, Board Chair